Real Life Nightmare
by Tarafina
Summary: Worst nightmare; he wished. :FM Radio:


**Title**: Real Life Nightmare  
**Category**: CSI: NY  
**Rating**: T  
**Genre**: Drama/Romance  
**Pairing**: Don Flack/Lindsay Monroe  
**Prompt**: Heaven  
**Word Count**: 1,078  
**Summary**: Worst nightmare; he wished.

**_Real Life Nightmare  
_**-1/1-

Worst nightmare; he wished. Unfortunately, this was real life and not something he was gonna wake up from at any second. He had a gun aimed at a guy who murdered his own daughter in cold blood and the perp had his own gun aimed at his partner, who was showing no signs of fear. But Flack knew her, better than anybody, and while she might not look terrified, she was shaking on the inside.

"Put it down!" the perp yelled.

"Don't," Lindsay ordered, shaking her head.

"You wanna die bitch?" he spat at her, face turning a violent shade of red.

"Better me than somebody else," she replied levelly.

"Look..." Don licked his lips. His voice was stiff, controlled, but his insides were like an earthquake going off. "I can't put my gun down and trust me... You do _not _wanna shoot her."

"Yeah? Maybe I do... Why shouldn't I?"

"You shoot her, you got the whole New York police force out for your head..." Don grit his teeth, shaking his head. "And that's if you get away. 'Cause you shoot her and I'm gonna take your head off." It wasn't a lie, but a promise. Any of her blood got spilled and this guy's brains were gonna paint the pavement. Easy as that.

He glanced at Don, lifting a brow and looking him up and down. "So what's it matter? I die, so what? I live, I go to prison!"

"That's your fault," Don replied, lifting a shoulder. "You don't shoot her, you got a better chance of getting a deal for what you know. You do, you gotta good chance of dying a real painful death. And I hear hell ain't that pretty."

He snorted.

Lindsay eyed the gun and then looked back at Don. "Shoot him."

Don let out a shaky sigh. "Shut up."

"Just shoot him. We can't afford to let him go... He killed his _daughter_, Don." She glared hard at the man aiming a pistol directly at her face. "He deserves hell."

"And you think you're goin' to heaven?" he sneered. "Look at you, bet you're just like her. You look innocent but you're puttin' it out for anybody who offers." He shook his head. "Just a little slut in a nun's outfit, that's what you are!" His voice rose louder until he was practically screaming, spittle escaping his mouth with each forced syllable.

"She's not, all right? She's nothin' like your daughter," Don told him, shaking his head, eyes wide. "She's from Montana; a family girl. She's just as innocent as she looks. Real down to earth, sweet, I'm tellin' ya." He swallowed tightly.

"_No!_ No, that's what I thought about my Maddy but she... _SHE!_"

"She didn't deserve to be killed," Lindsay replied, eyes hardening.

"Jesus, shut up, Lindsay," Don ground out. He could feel the sweat beading down the back of his neck, making his collar chafe his neck.

"No. I'm not going to cower for him." She turned to glare at the man. "Did Maddy cower? Did she beg her daddy not to hurt her? To put the gun down? Did she tell you how sorry she was? That she'd never do it again? Huh?"

"Shut up! Shut up, you stupid bitch! You don't know! You don't know what it was like! Raising her! Loving her! Thinking she was so much _better _than all the rest only to find out that she... _She _was a stupid, lying cow who spread her legs for every fuckin' man within ten _feet _of her!" He waved the gun violently. "You don't know!"

"I get it, all right? She lied to you; she made you think better of her..." Don lifted a brow. "Women can be like that, right? They make you think they're so good but they're just waitin' to fuck you over."

"Yeah, yeah," he agreed, nodding.

"But I'm tellin' ya, I know this one... She ain't like the rest, okay? She's tryin' to bring justice to New York, that's all."

"She _thinks _she's better... Can't let her think that... Gets to their head and then they think they can do anything. They think they can just _hurt _anybody. That nobody else matters! That their daddy's don't matter. I can't, I _won't_, I have to stop her. I have to stop them all before they turn out like my Maddy. I have to stop her..." He leveled the gun, a look of calm coming over his face suddenly.

Don's heart stopped. "Sonuva-"

_BANG! BANG!_

A body hit the floor, heavy, loud, flesh and bone cracking against concrete with a sickening thud.

Don let out a thick breath, licked his lips and lowered his gun. He stared at the still body a second, blinked and then put his gun away.

Lindsay's eyes were wide, staring at the dead, unmoving body of a killer, a man ready to kill her too. She turned, looked up at Don and let out a tiny, almost indiscernible sob. He stared back at her and with as much emotion as he'd ever shown on the job, he gathered her up into his arms and hugged her tight, burying a hand in her hair. "Why'd you have to do that?" He wanted to shake her but he had her so close there was no room. "Piss him off like that?"

She buried her face against his shoulder. "I couldn't let him talk about her like that. I just... I couldn't..." She shook her head, sniffling.

Don inhaled and exhaled quickly, each breath less and less steady. His entire body felt as if it was shaking uncontrollably. "Fuck, Lindsay, he was ready to shoot you! He was... He..."

"I know, I know, I..." She gripped his shirt tight beneath her fingers.

He held on to her a long moment, ignoring protocol that stated he had to call it in immediately. He couldn't let go of her just yet. For a second there, one that lasted far too long, he thought he was going home alone, to an apartment that wouldn't have her in it. Her off-key singing wouldn't be heard, her half-burned dinner wouldn't be waiting to be eaten, all the hot water wouldn't have been used up, and he'd have the whole bed to himself, no pillow-stealing girlfriend next to him. And that was the worst thought he'd ever had. But the real-life nightmare was over and he still had her. Thank God for that.


End file.
